NYTimes: US and Global News

As a newspaper journalist myself, I know that one of the chief attractions to prop up newspaper circulation is it’s sports coverage. Sadly, you have abandoned your readers by taking that out of the regular subscription. I don’t mind paying extra for the food app. It’s a specialized subject that appeals to some more than others. But sports coverage is always been part of the contract and expectation of any subscriber to a daily. It means now that any sports event, even if it has news value can only be red through your subscription to the Athletic. Lately there have been many sports stories that have cross cultural appeal, yet I’m denied reading them because I refuse to pay more for the app. I remain a subscriber because I know that your editorial coverage align with mine more than any other publication on a daily basis. That said, Part 2 and a bit of a jump cut here: l question what took you in so many others so long to start scrutinizing the cognitive mental demise of the Republican candidate for president? I applaud Mr. Baker Et Al For finally explaining what we all could see. But I feel like you’ve failed the American people on not showcasing this troubled man much sooner. The exposure you presented was spot on yet tardy In publication. So in the end, should things go terribly bad for our country, I hope I can find my way to Ireland, where I can learn the better points of hurling enjoy the all Irish finals… and read about it in full in the Irish Times

I have used the app for more than a decade. I haven’t always liked the layout, but I work around it to get to my favorites. The recent version has “Today’s news” and “Section” at the bottom that helps navigate. There is a huge amount of material available everyday, so navigating is crucial. Recently the news summary has disappeared from the top of the screen. I am sorry to see it go. My greatest complaint is that the current app is extremely dependent on a high quality WiFi connection. Previously I could download the day’s news, get on a plane or train, and go to airplane mode but still read the paper. No more! While I read the app is constantly updating. The text jiggles as it adds a photo or alters text. There are times it gets caught in a loop and the jiggle produces a blur of movement. So I have to close the app and start again. Some years ago the developers had allowed an old version to continue but eventually force the switch to the new app. I wish I could go back to that previous version as it was stable even when there were issues with the internet.

I use a VPN (a mainstream, widely available one) and many apps/sites don’t load properly. NYT’s app is odd because it works occasionally, but not usually—I don’t know if this is because of the VPN or if the app is just bad (but it seems to have a bunch of positive reviews so maybe it’s just me?). When I click on a push notification, it opens the app but only goes to the last article that was open, even if it was several weeks ago. Not useful. Then, if I search for the story, it only sometimes loads. I usually end up just using the website or relying on the morning briefing newsletter (so why am I paying for a subscription??). Another annoying aspect of the app is that you can’t zoom in on photos—I find myself doing this a lot on the website because there are interesting things to see and the phone screen is so small; it’s always a frustrating surprise when I try to zoom on the app and nothing happens. Aside from those specific issues, I also find it a little confusing/unintuitive how to find specific stories. Maybe I should be able to answer some questions about what interests me, and then it curates my home page based on my self-reported likes and my past views/reads. I could then use the “sections” page as a backup. Obviously NYT is the gold standard of journalism, but I’m surprised and irritated every time I remember how bad their app is. The app does look nice—I guess that’s worth +1 star.